Don't make me frog it. You won't like me when I frog it.

I love wool, but unfortunately wool doesn’t love me. When it comes to sensitivity I could give the Princess and the Pea a good run for her money. Everything seems to make me itch, which is bad enough when it affects what fibres I can wear next to my skin, but when itchy hands force me to put down my crochet hook I’m doubly grumpy! Thankfully there are some amazing varieties of yarn out there that don’t make me want to take a cheese grater to my hands, and my favourites are all cotton.

I aim to make all 30 projects from Emma Varnam’s Crocheted Keyrings and Charms book, and these three were all worked in Drops Muskat yarn which is 100% mercerised cotton.

I love the bright, intense colours that are available with cotton yarn, and although I’ve tried a few different brands, I keep going back to Drops Muskat (dk) and Safran (4ply). It comes in so many beautiful colours! I know I’m starting to sound dangerously like I’m on the payroll for Drops yarn but I feel there was a real turning point in my crochet when I started using it. It has a lovely weight to it that makes it feel quite substantial and an absolute pleasure to hold.

I made my first crochet blanket last year, using granny squares in single colours made from various acrylic double knit. I was (understandably!) very pleased with myself, but equally keen to start another blanket, only this time in cotton.

Not the best picture, but it gives you some idea!

There was never really any doubt what pattern I would use for my cotton blanket, not after I saw this crochet-along blanket design on notyouraveragecrochet.com – it was love at first sight! All I had to do was to find the right yarn.

Muskat does have quite a high sheen which is great for stitch definition but isn’t necessarily particularly snugglesome, so I knew I’d have to find an alternative that was soft, affordable and available in a good range of colours. After much shameless stroking and squeezing of yarn in various shops, I decided on Stylecraft Classique Cotton. It’s only available in 17 shades compared to Muskat’s 48, but it does have the advantage of coming in 100g balls instead of 50g.

I was a bit nervous about starting the blanket, especially as there were quite a few stitches I’d never tried before, but when my yarn arrived on Saturday there was no stopping me! I’m on row 13 now and this is what I’ve got so far:

Beautiful sunny colours to brighten up a winter’s day!

I’m really looking forward to the point at which it’s big enough to huddle under whilst I’m still working on it!

Right, time to pop in to Handmade Harbour. It’s the first Handmade Monday of the New Year!

Everything makes me itchy! Don’t even get me started on laundry detergent… Fortunately I can work for a little while with wool, but only in short bursts and it requires a lot of hand washing and moisturiser. I pushed it a bit making so many wooly Christmas presents so it’s back to cotton for a while until my skin calms down 😦

I’ve only recently started to use wool when crocheting – [usually confine it to knitting] – but have been using cotton for well over a decade! I don’t have your Brand of yarn here, so have been using the BERNAT HANDICRAFTER, mostly in the huge 400g balls. Which, has come out in over a hundred or so colours over the years. And, needless to say, I *do* have a MEGA-SUPER-*STASH* of it! — I too, make Blankets out of it… Lots and LOTS of Blankets… I love using cotton to do them. Soft on the hands and the tension is consistant. And, there’s also the “Cuddle”-Factor… seriously. Who doesn’t just *loves* a Cotton Blanket??
😀
[Auntie SHAN]